Jan201017

For some reason, when someone googles themselves that person is looked upon as being self serving, conceited and full of themselves. I never understood this notion and not only is it not correct by any means, it’s actually a counter productive and potentially career harming notion. If this is an opinion that you hold, change it!

When I meet a new company and we discuss the prospects of doing business together in some form or fashion, the first thing I do when I get to a computer after the meeting is research that company. This is something everyone should do to find out what this company is capable of and if they were blowing hot air in the meeting or they can actually back up what they said. If possible, you should actually do this research before hand but that is not always a possibility. When I research a company, the first thing I do is look at their corporate website. However, they way I do it is just as important as their website is. I don’t just type in the address in my browser, instead I put their company name in google and see what comes up. I look to see such things as how high they are ranked (i.e. the first result on the first page or not on the first page at all), where else they are listed and what other people and companies have to say about them. This is a very useful tool for me and it is common and acceptable to do this.

I do the same exact thing when I meet an individual as well. There is nothing different in the way I research a company or person. Especially since, usually when I research a company I met with an individual of that company so, I am researching that individual as well, simultaneously. This is also considered to be common and acceptable. This is where I see the disconnect in our society. It is ok to google someone you might do business with, or for that matter someone you want to date, etc… But, it is not ok to google yourself every once in a while? Well, since you can rightly assume that other people are googling you sometimes for the reasons I just mentioned, would it not be prudent to see what information is out there about you so that you can make sure it is an accurate representation of yourself? Obviously it is.

In fact, as soon as you finish reading this article, you should google yourself. If you see something that is not accurate, change it or contact the company that controls that information in order to change it. Also, make sure your Facebook account is only showing the information you want the public to see and not more than that. This is one of the most common mistakes people make online with their personal information. You should do this about once a month to ensure that you are being represented properly online. Think of this as an extension of yourself, sort of like a business card.

You are now a better researcher for reading this article, you’re welcome. I hope this has changed the way you look at googling yourself if you held an inaccurate view of it until now. For those that did not hold a distorted view of it, good, but hopefully you realized how important it is and maybe you will make sure to check up on it every once in a while.